Last year the Institute of Public Administration published an excellent collection of essays entitled Bust to Boom, the Irish Experience of Growth and Inequality. In one of the essays, "Political Culture, Growth and the Conditions of Success in the Irish Economy", by Rona Fitzgerald and Brian Girvin, it was interesting to find the comment that the policy mix adopted by Fianna Fail in 1987 had more in common with some social democrat governments than with, for example, the neo-liberal governments in the UK or US at that time.

They acknowledge that there was no "Thatcherism, Irish-style". Certainly, this is how we in the party felt at the time. The balanced partnership approach which was championed by Fianna Fail at that time, and which has proved to be such a success, would never have been considered in Thatcher's Britain or Reagan's US.

Many commentators and politicians were of the opinion that the partnership government would not survive "a wet week". More than four years and hundreds of column-yards of prediction later, I remain confident that this Dail will run its full five-year term and that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will be the longest-serving Taoiseach in any one government since the Emergency.

In the summer of 1997 in the Action Programme for the Millennium, we set out in detail the five-year Programme for Government. This contains the policies and legislative commitments which, we hoped, would form the basis for radical reform, which for too long has been bridled by fiscal constraints and, latterly, by a want of political will. Across the board those commitments set out in that programme have been, and are being, met.

In the areas such as ethics, no government has done so much. Like many, I felt the misdeeds of a few had let us all down. In reply to this, the Government's Ethics Programme which amounts to some 10 pieces of legislation was brought into being.

These measures range in scope from the 1997 Electoral (Amendment) Act which sets limits on election expenses and ensures that politicians and political parties disclose their donations to the Standards in Public Offices Bill and the first anti-corruption legislation since the foundation of the State.

Take health, an area which has come to dominate all of our concerns. The situation is awful in many areas of our health services. What one can say, however, is that things are slowly improving and that the legacy of seven decades of neglect is being turned around.

Health funding has been doubled. The spend has been brought above the OECD average for the first time. Last year 90,000 more procedures were carried out than in 1997, when this Government took office. Waiting lists are down - not enough - but we are getting there. That is what the provision of 400 more doctors, 1,774 more nurses, 1,631 more health professionals since 1997 is all about.

As I have said here before, the provision of health reforms entails lengthy run in times. It takes literally years to train health professionals and build hospitals, to provide wards and clinics.

In a very imaginative idea by a good colleague and diligent Opposition spokesman on health, Gay Mitchell, in a Private Member's Bill, he suggests the creation of an office of Surgeon General to work with the all-party Oireachtas Health Committee, rather like the Comptroller and Auditor General working directly with the Public Accounts Committee.

The argument goes that this would put the patients' interests centre-stage and ensure much needed accountability. It is a good idea, and maybe the Minister would have a close look at the proposal.

Later this year Micheal Martin will publish the new health strategy. This will bring together much of the work conducted these past four years in partnership with health professionals, and the public, through the public consultation process.

In four years unemployment has been cut, from 10.7 per cent to 3.7 per cent. The Government's attitude remains that the provision of employment is the main engine of social inclusion.

On the employment front, I fear there are dark clouds on the horizon, but when it comes to the crunch I think the community will trust this Government on the economy and employment, and if the international situation grows less favourable it will make the very best job of sheltering Ireland from disaster.

The commitment to couple economic success with social inclusion may well be seen as the major hallmark of this Government. Some 310,000 low-paid workers have been removed from the tax net altogether, a minimum wage has been introduced and in Budget 2001 alone we allocated £2.11 billion to a specific social inclusion package.